1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hay harvesting machine, particularly a windrower for cut crops, including a frame with several windrowing rotors, which windrowing rotors are driven in rotation during work about approximately vertical axes which are fitted with supports equipped with carrier wheels, said frame comprising a draft beam and a connecting beam to which at least one of the windrowing rotors is connected, the connecting beam being articulated with respect to the draft beam so that it can be moved with the rotor or rotors connected to it laterally to the right and/or to the left, at least the rotor of the connecting beam which is located furthest back being equipped with a windrowing deflector, the position of which is adjustable.
2. Discussion of the Background
In a machine of this kind, the windrowing deflector of the rearmost rotor limits the extent to which the fodder can be thrown out sideways and encourages the formation of a uniform windrow. The distance between the deflector and said rotor is advantageously adjustable so as to be able to tailor it to the mass and nature of the plant matter that is to be windrowed. When said mass is low, it is preferable for the deflector to be brought closer to the rotor so that the windrow will not be too spread out. Conversely, when the mass of plant matter is high, the deflector needs to be moved away from the rotor so that the windrow can be formed correctly and not be compacted. Furthermore, when the rearmost rotor is moved, with the connecting beam, from a first work position in which said rotor is on the left-hand side with respect to the rotor which precedes it, into a second work position in which it is on the right-hand side with respect to the rotor which precedes it, the corresponding windrowing deflector has to be removed to prevent it from colliding with said rotor which precedes it.
This operation is tedious to perform; in addition, it may be forgotten. When this happens, the collision between the deflector and the preceding rotor would cause serious damage.
The object of the present invention is to provide a hay harvesting machine as described in the introduction and which does not have the aforementioned drawbacks.
To this end, one important feature of the invention consists in the fact that the machine includes a retractable stop for the movement of the connecting beam about its axis of articulation, means allowing the windrowing deflector to be shifted notably with respect to the corresponding rotor and a device for controlling the stop, which device is actuated by the means for shifting the windrowing deflector.
In this arrangement, the stop prevents the connecting beam and the corresponding rotor from being moved from the first work position into the second work position as long as the deflector can collide with the rotor which precedes it. By contrast, when the deflector is shifted into the position in which the risk of collision is eliminated, the stop is retracted and the change in position can be performed.
In addition, as the adjusting of the stop is combined with that of the windrowing deflector, it occurs automatically and requires no special attention on the part of the user. The machine according to the invention can be operated simply and without risk.